What do you want to know about The Witcher: Wild Hunt?

[TheEvilChris]

What do you want to know about The Witcher: Wild Hunt?

For those who have not met me yet, my name is "Evil" Chris Priestly. I am the the North American Community Manager for CD PROJEKT RED and I work closely with Marcin Momot and the rest of our team to bring information about the game from the Dev team to our fans, and take ideas from our fans back to the Dev team.

I want to know: What do YOU want to know about The Witcher: Wild Hunt?

I know people have questions like "What are the system specs for the PC" (we will answer that closer to launch once the Dev team locks things down), but I am talking about in-game topics or ideas you want to know more about. Now, I am not promising we will address everyone's area of interest. The team already have lots of plans for information and assets (screenshots, videos, etc.) and we only have 4 months before we launch. However, I want to try to make sure we cover as many areas of interest as we can. Also, there are some subjects we will definitely not answer. If you want details on the story and secrets in the game, you'll have to wait to play it yourself. We want to minimize spoilers as much as possible.

So, let me know what information you want to know about Wild Hunt. I'll do what I can to answer your questions when possible. Let me know.

 

[DukeAlmighty]

Hey, Chris,

I want to know:
1) How parry and counter-riposte system will work in combat ? Will it be like TW2, that you need to time your attack in order to make counter ?
2) Is there attack animations (finisher or simple hits) for enemies on ground ? Like in TW1 for example ?

 

[EliHarel]

I'd like please to read a clear and definitive explanation of the alchemy system, and specifically what does\doesn't auto-refill, if at all.

 

[Doctalen]

EDIT: PLEASE SEE schinderhannes's POST ON THE SECOND PAGE FOR A BETTER MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION OF A LOT OF THIS


I know a lot of people here want to know about the UI and Witcher Senses. There have been complaints about excessive hand holding. These examples are in the 35 minute demo.

You are told to find Johnny's hut. The minimap has a big ! right where the hut is and Witcher sense lead you right to it too. There's no real searching and it's really talking down the to player. Also, at one point you're told to search for what's killing the villagers but there's a big "Werewolf" symbol on the HUD before you even encounter it. There's no mystery or anything. Now, I have some theories about that werewolf symbol that I shared in the Witcher sense thread but I'd like to know for sure somethings.

1. Do Witcher Senses get disabled/downgraded at higher difficulties?

2. Has the excessive handholding been removed? A quest telling you to search for something and then the map telling you exactly where it is along with witcher senses leading you straight to it is silly. Witcher senses leading you to it? Fine. But the map just saying where it is? That's excessive

3. How does the creature symbol near the minimap work? What is it there for? In other shots we see "Fiend" and "Noonwraith" being displayed. Is this tracking an enemy geralt ls hunting? Is it just what enemies are most common in that area? Why does it show a werewolf before we even encounter it? Shouldn't it just be a question mark if we haven't seen the creature yet if it is tracking enemies in the area?

This is what I am speaking about when I mention the creature symbol

Edit: Big post, I know. Some more questions though

1. What elements of the UI can be disabled in options? Can you disable the minimap/witcher senses all together?

2. Will the game have any anti-aliasing options on PC that are deeper than just "Disable/Enable"? The Witcher 2 had very little AA options and it surprised me for such a PC centered company.

 

[GHOSTMD]

My former asked questions still stand here in the forums unanswered.

How does Save/Loadgame works, we get a override previous savegame option?
see here:
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/30302-TW3-Save-Game-Load-Game-mechanics

I also wan t to know how the Alchemy System works.... what i ve seen in the polish 35 min didn t convince me that
that current one will be as good as the TW1 system

Another thing i nearby forgot *smirk*

CDPR GIVE US THE DAMN SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Last thing i wanna know:

Do the designers give the mixed TW1/TW3 UI style a chance? With a shaking 3D witcher medallion like in TW1?

See here: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/30248-TW3-UI-Aesthetics/page26?p=1440538#post1440538

 

[guilhermecn]

Yes, @eliharel, I and a lot of people (really) have been asking this question for some time. Please, bring some news from this topic for us

There's even an entire topic of discussion about that

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/28983-The-Witcher-3-Alchemy-System?highlight=alchemy

Thank you for your time and help

 

[SaladinBarchan]

Welcome to the forum Chris. Hope you enjoy your stay here.

Right, my question....
In previous year CDPR said in some interview that they are really trying to invest into horse riding and Geralt´s horse in general; trying to make the horse a strong character like any other that Geralt can interact with if I remember correctly.
It got me really interested overall, because I wouldnt indeed mind if Geralt's steed would have some role in the story, cutscenes and such as well as in gameplay.

It could create interesting story-telling aspects if Geralt had some evolving relationship to his horse among other things happening in the big world. Would bring more atmosphere and perspective to your immersion so to speak.

So, wouldn't mind hearing more about Geralt's horse I quess.
View attachment 7055

 

[linkman214]

1.Has the ability to target specific monster vitals been removed from the game completely?

2.Will NPCS react to creatures that wander too close to town similar to the witcher 1? (The scoiatel camp in the swamp, the guards attacking ghouls in vizmia)

3. A follow up to that. Will certain monsters spawn inside towns, similiar to the Ghouls, Fielders, and Assassins in the witcher 1?

 

[Vigilance.492]

Man, there's going to be so many questions I truly wish you good luck Chris & the Team.

As for me:

Is there a potion drinking animation in combat, making it into the final cut of the game?

Just feels wrong when Geralt can magically take a dose of a potion like in the Polish 35min Demo... I know the Developers want combat to feel "intense" and "actiony", but part of that is trying to dart away from combat, or use your spells to gain a moment when you can quickly down a potion and just being able to magically consume a dose at anytime seems really stupid. It feels like a step away from those genius design moments of TW1, which I hoped they were going to follow more closely when bringing back those aspects into TW3 like potion drinking in combat.

[size=-2](However I get the feeling that many of these questions probably won't get answers now if they are going to be answered by some kind of upcoming Video in the next 4 months. So I personally, and I hope others understand this too, wouldn't get too antsy if your question isn't answered immediately, because even if it isn't answered for another 2-3 months, if they've got an explanation video for certain stuff planned, they'll probably just let that do the talking when it arrives)[/size]

 

[Totalimmortal]

Welcome Chris, hope you feel comfy here, but there are no cookies (or at least I never got any? Hm?)
And props to the rest of CDPR for doing a herculean and excellent work so far.

Since I have been already beaten in regards of some question, will post my secondary ones:
1. Can underwater segments be explained in more detail? For example, will Geralt be hunting underwater monsters or just go in for finding treasures/transitioning to caves etc, and if the answer is former or both, will he have limitations to his skills and signs?
2. Will there be an option to switch off and on quest help markers, monster tips and general hand-holding help, tone-down the witcher sense etc? If not difficulty related than a toggle option in, well, options?
3. Toxicity in our TW3, yay or nay?
4. How often are new mini-games encountered in zones (like horseback riding and boat races), do they have bigger influence to the game and the player/story or a grind for orens/equipment or something third?

Thanks for your time, Chris-senpai

 

[zcar]

Hello,
I would like to know if you can reset your levelup-points and if so will it be similar like in The Witcher 2, with the "Operator-Quest" or something new.

Keep up the good work!

 

[frynse]

We already know there'll be several hair styles to choose from like in tw2, but how many different tiers of beards can we expect?
Basically just interested in if we can get a longer/thicker beard similar to the one depicted in basically all the artwork and CGI trailers - compared the the shorter stubble beard we've seen in the gameplay videos.

 

[schinderhannes.999]

Alchemy system/Crafting system

In particular (and for the umpteenth time) - do used up potions just miraculously auto-refill during meditation, or do you enter meditation, go into your Alchemy tab, choose a recipe from the list and actively re-brew them, as was the case in The Witcher 2? Is it still possible to substitute a certain component for another one, as long as the other one also contains the necessary basic alchemical substance?

Spoiler

Are multiple charges per crafted potion and reduced material/component requirements for subsequently crafted potions/bombs/oils still part of the system (as described in the following excerpt)?

About the potion system - in a recent interview Konrad told us that the potions would auto-refill. Is this still the case?

Automatically filling? No, no. Those are definitely consumable items, and you brew them you drink them and they are very very important in terms of preparation before the fight.

(A bit more of a clarification here since I talked to another dev off camera. The potions/bomb system works like this: You get the recipe and it will cost a big amount of materials to craft, and you’ll get something like 3 charges of the swallow potion for example. When you run out, you will need materials to craft the potions again, but they will require only a fraction of the materials needed compared to when you first craft the bomb/potion.)

How is ingredient gathering for potions? Is it similar to how it was handled in previous games?
It’s very similar.

Minimap/Witcher Senses

Was it just the game running on easiest difficulty/debugging mode in the 35min gameplay demo, or is the ridiculous hand holding provided by the Minimap and the ledges highlighting feature of the Witcher Senses actually a thing, no matter the difficulty or game mode?

Spoiler

Exhibit A:

Notice the exclamation mark on the minimap?

That's not where Johnny is in general that's EXACTLY where Johnny's hideout is, and you don't ACTUALLY have to find it yourself by using the Witcher Senses.

Using the Witcher Senses to highlight Johnny's footsteps to follow them to the exclam..., er, I mean Johnny's hideout is just a flavor thing, but ultimately unnecessary at this point.


Exhibit B:

Notice the 'Werewolf' indicator just below the moon phase/time of day/weather status to the left of the minimap?

That's giving away the very information you're supposed to find out by using the Witcher Senses BEFORE you even stumble across the corpse the Werewolf left behind or discover the Werewolf's tracks leading away from the corpse for you to follow.

And then there's your trusty pulsating arrow again pointing you in the right direction. Which actually makes some sense in that context that it indicates a general direction for you to go, so no complaints here, for now.

Okay, so now the arrow is gone, but what's with that yellow radial overlay on the minimap? Wouldn't that actually be the perfect moment to switch off ANY indicators pointing you in the right direction and instead having the player to rely SOLELY on using the Witcher Senses and follow the highlighted footprints?
Oh, and thanks Geralt, for pointing out the obvious. The minimap ALREADY told us that we're up against something 'wolfy' a few moments ago.

As Geralt's approaching the lair of the 'mysterious' creature, we're also getting sound clues (right edge of the screen) indicating an even more precise position of the tracked creature. Again, why displaying the yellow radial overlay on the minimap, when it's ABUNDANTLY clear where the creature is, at that point.


Exhibit C:

For the love of the Mother Creatrix, PLEASE let us turn off the hightlighting of ledges, edges and other things indicating a path Geralt can take or climb on. Isn't the yellow arrow on the minimap's edge enough to give you a sense of the general direction you'd have to take to progress with the current quest?

Me and obviously a couple of others actually like to figure things out for ourselves, without having hand holding mechanics as described shoved in our faces.

In fact, and I'm probably not exaggerating here, if there's no way of customizing certain aspects of both the Witcher Senses and the minimap or the UI in general a lot of people would genuinely feel insulted by the lack of CDPR's confidence when it comes to the willingness to go great lengths and/or to endure or even embrace certain ways of playing that involve more tedium and more brain work than Average Joe's way of playing a complex game like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Options, options and more options

The Game & HUD options menu in Thief 4 - will The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt support a similar range of gameplay customizability, either through various sliders, checkboxes, switches, etc. affecting all sorts of things, a customizable Hardcore Mode or something else along these lines?

Spoiler

 

[Doctalen]

Put it better than I did, schinderhannes. Hopefully they look over your better put together post

 

[Phinnway]

Hello there and welcome! I have two questions (okay, actually three.)

(1) Was there any streamlining of game systems in The Witcher 3? I usually consider streamlining a bad thing in game-design because it usually results the developer removing depth for the sake of simplicity.

(2) Did Witcher 3 take any inspiration the Dark Souls franchise when designing the combat system?

(3) In one of the interviews a developer mentioned something called "events." Are these something different from quests?

 

[schinderhannes.999]

Put it better than I did, schinderhannes. Hopefully they look over your better put together post

I wouldn't hold my breath, considering how many times those questions have been asked and given just a half-assed or even more contradicting answer.
We'll see.

 

[BroccoliSouP]

I thuoght about what else would I like to know and realised I know enough and I think I´ll let the game itself tell me.

Althought I have one personal question on Chris. It would be awesome to get the answer.
Did you get to play the game and if yes, how did you like it?
Is there something you dislike and how the game feels in case of general state(is it finished/polished)?
Obviously you don´t have to answer all of that(especially state of the game might be sensitive info) but I would be glad to hear at least answer on the first question.

Anyway, thx a lot for this question thread. It is always awesome when devs do that,

 

[Doctalen]

I wouldn't hold my breath, considering how many times those questions have been asked and given just a half-assed or even more contradicting answer.
We'll see.

Eh, maybe they just didn't have the final stuff done and didn't want to say and then stuff would change. With them making a thread like this maybe more stuff is finalized and they can talk about it

 

[The_Crow.410]

I would want to know more of the combat animations if they gonna work randomly or we gonna have control on all the animations.

 

[TarathielTorosir]

Is there a separate UI for the console version of the game and the PC version? I ask this mainly because the consolized UI for the Witcher 2 was absolute ass and I despised it, I am hoping it will be closer to Witcher 1 for PC and not just blatant consoleshit.